


Blooming Without Regret

by Tasyfa



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Gay Character, Comfort No Hurt, Multi, POV Alex Manes, Positive portrayal of 2x06, do not copy to other sites, spoilers for 2x06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:08:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23862817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tasyfa/pseuds/Tasyfa
Summary: After a frightening experience together, Alex, Michael, and Maria take care of each other.
Relationships: Maria DeLuca/Michael Guerin, Maria DeLuca/Michael Guerin/Alex Manes, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 65
Kudos: 112





	Blooming Without Regret

**Author's Note:**

  * For [notsodarling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsodarling/gifts), [DaughterofElros](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaughterofElros/gifts).



> This picks up near the beginning of the Airstream scene and carries forward. It is a positive exploration of the missing moments. 
> 
> **If you don't wish to engage with a positive interpretation, then please, please back button now.** I would very much appreciate it if you would respect my response to this episode and this scene, and refrain from reading or commenting if a positive interpretation is not your cup of tea. I have moderated comments on this one. 
> 
> Thanking you in advance!  
> There's also a [tiny playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Goh41ptQVEUtW09u37K0m?si=AeoGLjTeTpizDNAN8zEISg) to go with (four songs). 
> 
> Lastly, this is for @Daughterofelros, @jumbled-nonsense, and @ober-affen-geil over on Tumblr. Thank you for your words and images; they inspired me. <3  
> ~ Tas

"It's going to sting." 

"I know." 

And sting it did. Alex hissed a breath as Michael dabbed the antiseptic over the cleansed wound, and held still while gauze was laid gently to cover the puncture; as strips of surgical tape anchored it to his skin. 

He could feel Maria's fingers rubbing the back of his neck. She knew not to do it too lightly; he didn't like the ticklish sensation. Stuff they'd figured out by trial and error a long, long time ago. But the stronger clasp was welcome, as was the way she'd plastered herself against him. Leaning on him and holding him up at the same time. 

When Michael smoothed down the last edge of the tape, his hand gave way to Maria's - checking his work, making sure it was secure enough before she let the edge of Alex's undershirt cover it. The blood staining the white cotton had long since dried. A cobbler's awl was sharp and smooth, with a small diameter; it had made a neat hole with clean edges that should heal well, though Alex expected it would leave a scar. 

What was another one, right? 

It was the reverent way Michael's hands slipped down Alex's chest, even as Maria clung to his side, that was making Alex's stomach clench and his breath catch. He hadn't had this much sustained physical contact since the last time he'd had sex with Michael, right here on this bed. He'd held Maria's hand the entire drive here tonight, both of them shaken and craving comfort beyond the safety of Michael's headlights in the rear view mirror. 

Now, Michael knelt at his feet with entire galaxies in his eyes. Alex tipped his head forward slightly, the movement unconscious; wanting. He watched Michael's gaze slide to Maria, seeking guidance.

There was tension in him, too, the man kneeling there, and Michael's hands dropped before he exhaled roughly, "I nearly lost you." 

Then he looked at Alex and the words were still there, hanging in the air before he went one step further and made the visual echo explicit, "Both of you." Michael levered to his feet and moved to stand by the counter, shifting in place like he didn't know what to do with that information or how it made him feel. 

The combination of that statement and Michael's subsequent withdrawal hit Alex hard. He wanted to offer reassurance but he was frozen, held in place by memories that had everything and nothing to do with the two people here with him, knocked off balance by the movement of their hands on his body, fear and love and the remnants of adrenaline. 

Maria had no such barriers and she rose easily. Her hand lingered on Alex as she moved, and he missed it when it was gone, watching as she touched Michael's face, exchanging soft words and kisses. Offering him the security of her presence. 

Alex had expected it to be painful to see them kiss. And it was, but not the way he'd thought it would be. No, it wasn't about jealousy, or heartbreak. There was only the familiar twin spikes of want and shame. He wanted to be the one to offer that succour. 

He wanted to receive it himself. 

In the absence of the first clue on how to do either, or even express the desire, he stammered, "Uh, it's getting late. I should - I should go." 

And Maria disengaged from Michael with a distraught expression, reprising her seat and her grip on Alex, giving him something to hold onto with how his stomach had begun to wobble and his blood to fizz, skin and soul tingling with the need for nearness. She protested, "I don't want you to go." 

It felt like he was on the precipice of something and he murmured, "I don't really want to leave," licking his lips as he looked at hers. 

It was so, so quiet but it was real, and true, and it almost made him want to cry when she leaned in and kissed him, lips soft against his. It told Alex more clearly than anything else could have that he was wanted here. That he was cared for. 

By one person, at least, and not the one whose domicile this was. Alex flicked his eyes towards Michael and back to Maria, hoping desperately that she would understand - that she would help him bridge the gap Alex had no idea how to close on his own. Some of that plea was in his voice as he repeated, equally quiet but strong, "Maria, I don't want to leave." 

He watched her think, or maybe simply feel, her senses reaching out as she stroked the back of his neck again, telling him, "I just... I just want us all safe," and then the impossible happened. She looked at Michael, and reached out to take Michael's hand, giving a little tug.

"What are we doing?" he asked, and it was a fair question but nobody had an answer, as Michael looked back and forth between them.

"It's okay," Maria reassured with a little nod, and maybe that was the answer, as Alex shifted to make room for Michael's broad shoulders. To make a place for him, with Alex and Maria. His denimed thigh pressed against Alex's and Alex placed a hand at the small of Michael's back, encouraging him forward as Maria kissed him, light glimmering from her rings as she cupped Michael's cheek. 

When their kiss broke, her hand tangled with Alex's on the once-white T-shirt, both of them impatient for skin, three pairs of legs entangled.

Then it was his turn and Alex pulled Michael to him, fingers threaded through the soft texture of his hair as he captured Michael's mouth, the well-remembered taste and feel of him settling in, the sense of his presence and the warmth of his body beginning the work of convincing Alex that they were all here, that they'd survived. 

That they could be whole, maybe, at least for tonight. 

He let go only so he and Maria could lift the stained fabric over Michael's head and discard it, Michael swivelling to kiss Maria as Alex pressed his mouth to that strong back, hands gripping the bared skin. 

When it was Alex's turn again, he leaned in for a fierce, brief kiss, already shifting his weight, tucking his left leg under him on the mattress as he bore Michael down onto the bed to hover, horizontal, while Maria slipped into the space underneath Michael's body. He felt the brush of Maria's hand along his belly as she grasped Michael's back pocket and directed him sideways, until his hip rested on the mattress beside hers, and Alex followed suit, tucking himself behind Michael. 

No one mentioned the narrowness of the bed, or the feat of engineering this would be. Right now, Alex felt like he couldn't possibly get close enough to the other two, and if that meant elbowing the wall a few times, so be it. 

He met Michael's mouth as Michael twisted towards him, kissing him hungrily, and slipped a hand around all that warm skin to flatten on Michael's abdomen, feeling the flutter of muscle under his palm and the soft brush of Maria's blouse against the back of his hand. And broke the kiss with a laugh when Maria moved his hand to Michael's giant fuck-off belt buckle and requested, "You open it. I might break a nail," in a light tone that made him relax, hearing Michael's raspy chuckle float free as Alex worked open the buckle and the jeans underneath. He grasped his side of the fly and Maria did the same, both of them tugging down while Michael lifted to let the fabric slide, revealing golden skin and nothing else. 

"Shamelessly commando, I see," Maria teased as Alex sat up to yank the denim all the way off. 

"You know me, DeLuca," he smirked. 

"Maria," she corrected softly. Alex understood why, although he really didn't want to think too hard about the intimacy of what they were doing. Not now. 

Michael gave her a heart-stoppingly sweet smile. "Maria." 

She kissed him, gently enough to go with that smile, and Alex let himself drag his fingers along Michael's thigh, watching the way his body moved under their dual touch, how his half hard cock had curved down to rest against the sheet, relaxed and aroused both. It was a fitting description of how Alex felt. 

"Alex?" Maria spoke, and he startled, flushing as he realised he'd been caught staring at Michael's dick. Neither of them seemed to mind, though; Michael's gaze was on the smug side, and Maria... Maria looked amused, but in a way that suggested she understood his distraction. 

"Yeah. Um," he paused, gesturing at his chest. "The tape will stay down, right? I don't need to keep the shirt to cover it?" Not that it did a great job anyway, being just an undershirt, but Alex was used to injuries where he either went right back to what he'd been doing, or where a certain amount of bed rest was required before he could do anything. This middle ground was unfamiliar territory, especially with someone else's first aid supplies. 

"Oh, that gauze is going nowhere," she assured. "It is well stuck on." 

"Okay," Alex nodded. He almost asked why she hadn't just told him to take the undershirt off before, but realised he already knew the answer. She had been respectful of his personal boundaries and when he himself had made no move to remove it after taking off the sweater, both Maria and Michael had let it be, simply shifting aside the fabric to deal with the first aid. 

Knowing that emboldened Alex and he pulled the undershirt over his head, dropping it on the floor with Michael's jeans. 

"Not a skinny skater boy anymore, huh?" Maria smiled. 

Alex huffed a laugh. "Not so much." He met her eyes, relieved beyond the telling of it to find approval and admiration, but no desire. She wasn't looking at him like she wanted him, just like... the closest he could think of was when they'd be out shopping and Maria would see something and beeline right for it, and she'd make these happy little noises as she took a closer look. 

It was the way she looked when she saw something beautiful.

Alex darted his eyes to the side and wet his lips, processing that thought, then focused on Michael. There, he found hunger, omnipresent in the way Michael always looked at him. Still, after all these years. But the rest of what was there wasn't so different to Maria and Alex took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, the way he'd been taught to do when he started to feel overwhelmed. 

"You want your leg on or off?" Michael asked, the way he might ask Maria if she wanted to put her hair up, the question a true neutral. Entirely up to Alex. 

He glanced over the small space. "On, I think, will be easier." He might need to balance in some awkward positions. Michael's little smirk said he'd followed the decision process and Alex couldn't help but chuckle. He waved at Maria's torso, asking, "Are you going to...?" 

She nodded, smiling. "If that's okay." 

"I've seen naked women before, Maria," he scoffed and she rolled her eyes. 

"Alright, hot shot, just checking." 

"Thanks," his tone softening, and her smile glowed. 

"I'm available to help other people get naked," Michael declared, and they all laughed.

"You go help Alex and I'll do my own. For an engineer, you're useless at unhooking a bra," Maria teased and Michael grinned, rising from the bed. 

"Guilty." 

He dropped to his knees in front of Alex, palms on Alex's lower thighs, a wordless request for permission to carry out the appointed task. Alex glanced sideways, seeing Maria folding her blouse and piling her jewellery on top of it on the shelf bit above the bed. When she pulled her tank top off, careful of her hair, he looked back to Michael, reassured that Maria wasn't excluding herself or hesitating around him, just being her typical independent self. 

"Go ahead," he told Michael finally, swallowing as those palms slid up the inside of each leg, to unzip and unbutton, fingers gentle as Alex lifted enough to let Michael pull jeans and underwear down. 

They weren't quite all the way off when Alex got an armful of Maria, tilted across his chest in a lopsided hug. He smiled, laughter in his voice as he said, "Hi." 

"Hi yourself," she beamed, and kissed his jaw, nuzzling her nose against the slight scruff growing in at the end of the day. His clothes were gone now and Michael's considerably denser scruff rubbed against Alex's knee. It was a lot and it obviously showed as Maria checked, "We okay?" 

"Yeah," he nodded, his gaze slipping from hers to meet Michael's, pulling both of them into his truth. "Yeah, we're good."

Soon enough they were all back on the bed, Michael's tanned body in between Alex and Maria, nestled together in an ombre of beige to brown with the silver metallic accent of Alex's prosthesis. 

Murmurs of, "Is this okay?", and, "I'm okay", and, "Yes, it's okay", punctuated the soft sounds of pleasure; the glide of hands on skin. It was a strangely pedestrian word for such an intense experience, but it felt right. It _was_ okay, for all three of them. 

Okay when Alex leaned over to kiss Maria after sliding into Michael's body, the comfort of her touch a soothing counterpoint to the heat of Michael's. 

Okay when he petted Michael's spine, lying beside the joined pair, feeling his muscles move in time with Maria's music. 

Okay when he cleaned up a bit after in the tiny bathroom, with two used condoms sitting in the trash. 

Alex hopped back into the main space, finding Michael frowning in concentration at the liner for the prosthesis, laid across his hand. "What're you doing?" 

"I washed it, and now I'm drying it. I just need to vibrate it, get a little heat going, and it'll be ready to wear," he spoke evenly enough, but Alex could hear the undercurrent there. 

Because the last time Alex had been naked in Michael's bed was also the first time he'd stayed the night, and so Michael was offering him options. But everything Alex needed tonight was here. "Thank you. Could you put it with my jeans when it's dry, please?" 

A shy smile was his answer, and Alex sat down on the bed beside Maria, clad in one of Michael's T-shirts, all three of them back in their own underwear. He noticed that Michael was putting the clean liner on top of another T-shirt, presumably a loaner so Alex didn't have to put his bloodstained sweater on. 

"You want the outside this time?" Maria asked, and Alex laughed, nodding. 

"Yeah, I can't sleep against the wall." 

She offered him a bright smile and a hug, and then Michael was there, too, with blankets and another pillow. Trying to get into a sustainable arrangement had them giggling but they got there in the end, and Alex found himself wrapped in Michael's arms, one of Maria's hands on his waist, as he listened to their breathing even out, one by one by one. 

Safe, together. 

[Et fini]


End file.
